Hearing on insurance coverage for abortions draws crowd

OLYMPIA — Abortion-rights supporters and opponents packed a House hearing Thursday and debated a measure that would require insurers to pay for the procedure.

Supporters call the bill the Reproductive Parity Act and say it’s intended to preserve existing abortion coverage once new health-insurance rules come into effect under the federal health-care law.

State Rep. Eileen Cody, D-West Seattle, the bill’s sponsor, said it is needed because under the Affordable Care Act, insurers will face red tape associated with covering abortion that may tempt them to drop it from their plans.

Starting next year, insurers will be required to collect two sets of premiums, one for abortion coverage and another for all other care.

Cody said she is unaware of any carrier contemplating dropping coverage.

Opponents of House Bill 1044 used the hearing to say it was wrong to force businesses and women who oppose abortion to pay for coverage for a procedure they equate with murder.

“This bill would force me to buy something I do not believe in,” said Kimmy Jones, 28, a stay-at-home mother from Rainier, Thurston County.

Detractors also said that an exemption for insurance providers on conscience or religious grounds was not strong or broad enough.

Jonathan Bechtle, CEO of the Freedom Foundation, a fiscally conservative group that takes no position on abortion, said his group opposes the measure.

“Whatever one thinks about the morality of this issue, forcing businesses and individuals to follow one rule reduces competition, reduces choice, and reduces innovation,” Bechtle said.

Supporters, for their part, told members of the House’s Health and Wellness Committee that women should be able to make decisions about abortion without fearing that their insurance won’t cover it.

Elaine Rose, CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest, said her group wants to make sure women have access to insurance that “allows them to make the decision that’s best for them and their families, with their God and their doctors.”

A similar measure passed out of the Democratic-controlled House last year but did not come up for a vote in the Senate.

Its fate will likely be determined in the Senate again this year, where a Republican-dominated majority has taken control.